The film’s astonishing success has come as a surprise to most,
but on closer examination, we can discern at least five standout
ingredients to Frozen’s alchemy. Although the movie is a
four-quadrant success (it appeals to males and females over and
under 25 years old), the same can be said for most Pixar and
Disney studio films. Where Frozen really works its magic is with
Generation Z, called The Pluralist Generation by
research firm Frank N. Magid Associates. These are the young-uns
born between the late ‘90s and mid-‘00s.

Naturally, Disney is moving quickly to leverage this
unprecedented success. A Broadway musical, theme park
attractions, video games, and feature film sequels are all in the offing. But if any
of these are truly going to reach the heights of the original—and
if other studios are intent on trading in on the movie's amazing
success—producers would all do well to carefully consider why
audiences keep returning for more "Frozen."

Disney pulled the same sleight of hand with "Tangled" in 2010,
effectively packing theaters with testosterone-fueled half-pints,
who then were subjected to a picture about a very longhaired
princess. That still leaves the question, why are even boys
coming back for seconds and thirds with "Frozen"?

2. Real
Darkness but no real evil villain

Disney

With values and ethics in flux around the world, kids are growing
up in a world colored by shades of gray. Gen X’ers and adult
Millennials are teaching their Gen-Z progeny that it isn’t about
Good Vs. Evil, it’s about trying to figure out why they’re
yelling at you.

"Frozen" cleverly taps into this on many levels, most of which
are easily identifiable to kids. A bad accident and injury
between siblings provides the film’s inciting incident.
Helicopter parents make poor decisions, and then are killed
(off-screen) in an accident themselves. Most pointedly Hans,
ostensibly the film’s central villain, lures heroine Anna into a
false relationship in order to gain the throne.

However, as excellently described in TrilbeeReviews, Hans is actually a pretty good
leader, and handles a myriad of situations rather heroically.
Yes, he is following a selfish and deceitful agenda, but that
makes him a crappy boyfriend, not diabolical.

3. Dispenses
with sexist love tropes once and for all

Walt Disney Pictures

On a recent edition of the Pop Culture Happy Hour
podcast, NPR’s Linda Holmes observed that Disney feature
animation has spent the past decade or so making up for the hoary
sexism of the previous 40 years. By refuting the notion of love
at first sight, and by subverting the salvation heroines can
receive by love’s first (male) kiss, "Frozen" drops the cherry on
the sundae.

There is a new realism, according to Magid, a toning down of the
American Dream being passed down to kids by young parents. “Your
Prince is not coming, so don’t wait for him!” they seem to be
saying. "Frozen" provides us with positive reinforcement of these
notions blithely, delightfully, and without Shrek-like
cynicism.

In fact, gender roles are either blurred or tossed altogether,
and that’s pretty much how huge swathes of the Pluralist
generation sees things. In the film, true love’s kiss comes not
from a strong, handsome man, but from the love of a sister.

4. New
discoveries on repeated viewings.

Walt Disney Pictures

Some critics have read "Frozen"’s structure as overly simplistic,
almost vacuous, but kids seem to be singing a different tune
after returning to theaters based on Starlight Runner's tracking.
On a second viewing, they’re realizing the dippy Hans/Anna
romance in the first half-hour is going to be subverted, and that
the love tropes of the songs are really being made fun of.

They are also realizing Elsa’s awesome power has a negative
impact on the people she loves, even though she’s gone away.
Sure, these are subtle nuances, but we are apparently raising a
generation of savvier and more sensitive kids. On top of that,
they’re really digging the songs.

5. "Let It
Go."

Within a couple
of weeks of the film’s release, Disney dealt a masterstroke by
posting the entire “Let It Go” music sequence online. The finest
animated number in decades, it started flooding Facebook, and
generating covers on YouTube by the
thousand. If we listen to the song itself, it’s fine, a kind of
Broadway anthem. Demi Lovato’s version peaked at 38 on the
Billboard Hot 100. But the combination of song and visual is
another thing altogether.

Gen-Z kids, starved for a female superhero lead that Marvel and
DC Comics have refused to provide on the big screen so far,
finally get one with Elsa. Two super heroic things are happening
in the sequence at the same time: First, a girl is wielding
power, the likes of which we’ve never seen before, and her
actions are conveyed with a true visual
splendor.

The second, equally as important, is Elsa’s transformation from
uptight teen to the majestic Snow Queen. It seems the one thing
we still can’t seem to resist—even all the little Plurals—is a
makeover.